Serbian President Boris Tadic said Tuesday in Novi Sad that a government reshuffle, if coalition partners agree on it after the New Year, should improve its own functioning and that of state institutions.

The coalition partners reactions differ. Deputy PM Ivica Dacic is not against a government reshuffle, but expects tangible propositions regarding the matter.

“We will see whether any kind of an agreement can be reached,” the minister told reporters at the Palace of Serbia, during an interval at the public debate on the Interior Ministry's Development Strategy. He pointed out that the SPS is ready to discuss the reshuffle and help find ways to raise the efficiency of government's work.

Dacic assessed that all issues regarding the government reshuffle need to be resolved promptly, and added that he does not consider this to be a key issue, although it is "politically beneficial," and noted that the agreement on the number of ministries should be reached in the period of government constitution.

Dacic reminded that prior to the constitution of the current government, he had conferred with officials of both the parties represented in the prime minister's cabinet and the officials of opposition parties, including Vojislav Kostunica (head of the Democratic Party of Serbia) and Tomislav Nikolic (leader of the Serbian Progressive Party), but added that at the time, nobody seemed to ask about the exact number of future government ministries.

League of Social Democrats of Voivodina (LSV) leader Nenad Canak believes that Serbian government reshuffle is more or less unnecessary at this moment, as it would paralyze the work of some ministries one year before elections.

Serbian Minister for National Investment Plan Verica Kalanovic, who is also an official in the G 17 Plus, statedthat the issue of government reshuffle was initiated because of the general dissatisfaction with the work the current government has done so far, and expressed belief that the country needs a better-coordinated government with fewer ministries.